Secrets of True Wealth

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Partial Transcript

[The following is a partial transcript of this episode of The Scott Alan Turner Show. Listen to the full episode to hear this story, listener questions, money hacks, and inspiring stories of people that are changing their financial lives. Subscribe to the free podcast on iTunes or Google Play]

On the last show I challenged you to take five seconds and give someone a tribute. You got a taste, more like a drop, of those positive vibes you get from giving.

This spending plan you’ve created to build wealth, it’s not just to have a big fat bank account. It’s the stuff that comes from the big fat bank account. Freedom. Opportunity. Legacy. Inheritance. Generosity.

You know already, you’re very generous. You’ve all shared this show with other people, and I want to thank you so much for that.

We just released 99 Minute Millionaire the audio book version, as part of this podcast. As a subscriber to the show – Subscribe now if you’re not yet – you’re silently cursing me for filling up the space on your phone. But with all the wealth you’re going to build, you can afford a new phone for more storage someday.

Be generous with that audio book and forward the link to people, post it to social, send an email. The message was so important and it needs to be heard, so we wanted more people to get it, We need your help to do that and spread the show around. Take 30 seconds right now to do that if you please.

It’s fascinating to me, when you think about it, how hard it is to get people to overcome their existing beliefs. Change is hard. New habits are hard.

• Working out consistently is hard
• Lifestyle changes are hard
• Sticking to a spending plan is hard

But here’s the thing

• Being sick is harder
• Being 100 pounds over weigh is harder
• Being broke is harder

One of the biggest belief changes I’ve ever come across is giving.

What, you just want me to give away my money? But I worked so hard for it! Think of all that stuff I could buy! Someone could be riding in first class instead of the cattle car. Or get the leather seats instead of the fabric. I think the same things! We gave away how much! I coulda bought X,Y, and Z!

Giving. I don’t get it. I have a tough time wrapping my head around it. It’s there in the bible and probably other religions too.

But it’s kinda like gravity. Ok, the Earth is spinning around in space at 23,000 miles per hour or whatever, and the planet has this molten core of iron and lava, and we just stick to the ground. It beats being flung off into outer space, so I’m good with just accepting it.

• I went from spending it all, probably you did to
• to super frugal and tight fisted, never giving a dime or time to anyone or anything – except for some chocolate truffles I made for a bake sale once
• to volunteering my time to pull weeds at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens on Friday mornings and giving away 10% of every paycheck.

It was quite a shift. Bizarre is how I would label it. Bizarro world like in Seinfeld. How can a person give away something, time, talents, treasure, tributes, and yet receive more back in the long run.

It would be like eating more donuts while losing weight at the same time. Which doesn’t work.

What people do with their spending and saving is their business. I’m just sharing what I’ve experienced and the things I see over and over again in the people that have thriving and successful lives. Generosity is always at the top of the list, along with honesty and integrity.

I call it the Gift Shift.

• Instead of someone being Scrooge, they get the joy of being a giver.
• Instead of the short high from some retail therapy, there is the long term satisfaction of helping others
• Instead of that missing element of life, there is that sense of pride, ‘hey, I made that happen’.

And that’s just the internal gift shift.

• You can be the one that writes a check to pay someone else’s medical bills and make their problems go away
• You can be the one to buy Christmas presents for 100 kids that wouldn’t get any presents otherwise
• You can be the one to pay for college for a niece, nephew, grandkid, somebody in foster care who wouldn’t get that opportunity

My friend Dave who I went to CFP school with. He’s saved enough to pay for college for all of his grandkids. How cool is that.

In your spending plan, have you put in the category for spending on others. We call that giving. It’s one of those things like doing a spending plan for 90 days. You just have to try it to see it work. Because unless someone tries it, they will never believe it just be reading or hearing about it.

You know what gravity is like. We all know on the moon there is less gravity from the pictures we’ve seen of the moon man bouncing around in zero gravity. But until you and I get to the moon someday and get to bounce around, all we have is the videos of moon man bouncing.

But the power of giving is something we can all experience today, no rocket ship required.

And: Give that book away. IT’s your book. I wrote it just for you. Because you asked me over and over, how do I invest. Everyone has the same question, we’re not born knowing this stuff. We’re not born this way, Sorry Lady Gaga (I was watching her documentary last night). She’s amazing. We don’t know, so we ask. You asked, I wrote the book. Most people are too embarrassed to ask the question because nobody talks about money. We’re supposed to know how a 401k works. We don’t. Share the book. People will love you for helping them. Open someone’s eyes. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. It gives money. It gives wealth. It gives confidence. It gives your friends family and co-workers the retirement they deserve. The same one you deserve.

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